Travel guide Porto Rico
The best time to go à Porto Rico
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Practical information for travel à Porto Rico
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Edition 2023/2024
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What to see what to do à Porto Rico?
Where to go à Porto Rico?
The most beautiful tourist sites
Other à Porto Rico destinations
Petit Futé's best addresses à Porto Rico
Discover the most beautiful addresses selected by the authors of Petit Futé.
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How to travel à Porto Rico
How to go alone
The average price of direct flights to San Juan from France in high season is about 1 200 € and 800 € in low season. But if you look hard enough, using flight comparison sites, you can find flights for less than 600 €. Provided that your dates are flexible. Note that the price variation depends on the airline you use and, above all, on the reservation deadline. To get good prices, it is essential to book well in advance. Consider buying your tickets six months before departure if possible. Most flights include at least one stopover and often two. If you want a direct flight, you will have to fly to Madrid. For stopovers, try to choose Miami, as the ones in New York are more easily changed in winter due to snow.
How to go on a tour
Puerto Rico is generally absent from the catalogs of French tour operators. The destination will only be proposed as a cruise stop in the heart of the Caribbean. Concerning an all-inclusive stay in Puerto Rico, the tourism professionals can still compose your trip to measure (luxury trip, honeymoon, family, etc.). To get an idea, you should plan a minimum budget of €1,500 for a flight+hotel package, for a one-week vacation.
How to get around
From a tourist point of view, public transportation is the biggest problem in Puerto Rico. Renting a car is in this case one of the solutions that may be necessary when leaving the capital, San Juan. But be careful with several points. First of all, the budget calculation (rental including taxes and insurance, parking in town, etc.).
The other alternative: the so-called públicos (collective cabs) can allow non-motorized people to reach some of the island's major destinations such as Ponce, Rincon, Fajardo.
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Travel à Porto Rico
Ideas for holidays and week-end breaks à Porto Rico
Porto Rico reste une destination des Caraïbes méconnue. A part peut-être pour le rhum et la salsa ! Pourtant, avec son histoire, sa culture, sa gastronomie afro-caribéenne, son peuple chaleureux, ses trésors naturels, et... ses 300 plages, il y a de quoi faire sur cet archipel au charme discret. L’île principale étant petite, il est tout à fait possible de séjourner à San Juan et d’enchaîner les excursions à la journée ou demi-journée. En mode itinérant, à minima, vous vous imprégnerez de l'atmosphère unique du Vieux San Juan, avant de découvrir la forêt d’El Yunque, la baie bioluminescente de Fajardo et l’île de Culebra. Avec un peu plus de temps, les possibilités deviennent bien plus intéressantes pour s’imprégner de la culture et du mode vie boricua : les différents quartiers de San Juan, El Yunque, l'île de Vieques, Ponce, la région centrale et la superbe côte ouest, où les amateurs de surf et de plongée pourront se régaler.
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Discover Porto Rico
With more than 400 km of coastline and almost constant sunshine, Puerto Rico has many beautiful beaches. Some people go there for this reason alone. A stay in Puerto Rico will also plunge you into the heart of a cheerful and lively music, born from the meeting between Africa, Europe and the Caribbean air. You will hear in particular salsa and merengue in the streets. Music is everywhere! At the crossroads of American, Spanish and African influences, Puerto Rico has forged a unique identity. Its rich history, from the Taíno era to the American time, through the Hispanic colonization, has endowed its lands with a mixed heritage. The Puerto Rican people, like other Caribbean islands, can boast of bearing the marks of diverse origins, whose mixture can be found in its culture, whether in its customs, cuisine or music
The 12 keywords à Porto Rico
Boricua
It is a Spanish word made to designate Puerto Ricans or people from the island. As a result, in everyday language, there are many variations. The word comes from the vocabulary used by the Taino Indians to form their language, Arawak. Boricua comes from the term Borinquen, which means "Land of the brave".
Coffee
Coffee remains the most profitable crop on the island, far ahead of sugar cane. The production has resumed in recent years. The production sites(haciendas) can be visited. Most of them have their own coffeeshop, on site and/or in San Juan, offering to taste and buy their freshly roasted coffee
Carnival
Carnival celebrations are very popular and give rise to very colorful and original festivities. Puerto Rico has a carnival that stands out from the others: the one in Ponce. Taking place over several days in February, it attracts a crowd of festival-goers, sometimes from far away. The traditional mask, called vejigante, is the emblem.
Casino
The gaming industry in Puerto Rico is alive and well. With the exception of Las Vegas, rarely has an American territory had so many casinos, large and small, open 24 hours a day. They are most often located in the lobbies of large hotels. You don't have to be especially well-dressed to get in, but you must be at least 18 years old
Colony
"We are the last colony in the world". Under the domination of the United States since the war with Spain in 1898, Puerto Rico has never been independent nor is it considered a U.S. state. This phrase is sure to come up in the ears of visitors, in the course of some lively conversations among Puerto Ricans.
Mall
American culture obliges, the north coast of Puerto Rico in particular, the most populated, is dotted with many malls or shopping centers. Plaza las Americas, in San Juan, is the largest in the Caribbean. You will find there many stores of ready-to-wear in majority, all the large American signs are represented there
Mofongo
Among the pleasant surprises to discover in Puerto Rico is the gastronomy. The cuisine is very international, but Puerto Ricans also have their own specialties, like mofongo. It consists of green plantains, fried and mashed, accompanied by fish, shrimp or meat with a Creole sauce.
Piña Colada
It is the island's must-have cocktail. And for good reason, the recipe for this sweet mixture of coconut cream, pineapple juice, white rum and ice was born in San Juan. You'll find piña colada stands on almost every popular weekend beach in the archipelago. It is the tropical cocktail par excellence
Reggaeton
It is impossible to escape it. Since the early 2000s, it's been the trendy musical genre throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Puerto Rican singers are at the origin of this movement which federates the youth. First and foremost is Daddy Yankee, the "king of reggaeton", who made his mark internationally with his song Gasolina in 2004.
Ron
The best-selling rum in the world is Puerto Rican. A true national pride, rum is to Puerto Rico what wine is to France or whiskey to Scotland. Some distilleries (Bacardi, Ron del Barrilito) are worth visiting and offer tasting sessions. Cocktails and aperitifs have been made with rum for ages
Surf
Puerto Rico has some of the best winter surfing in North America. In the northwest, several towns, such as Rincón, have developed thanks to the surfing market and the international competitions that have taken place there. Many schools offer lessons and equipment rental. What a way to get into the water!
Vejigante
This term designates the traditional mask of Puerto Rico, a folkloric figure and symbol of the Ponce carnival; it is the perfect illustration of the cultural mixture resulting from the meeting between Africa, the Caribbean and Europe. Its traditional colors are red, black, white and yellow. Some of them are of art, so much they are elaborated.
You are from here, if...
You are a fan of " buen provecho ". This is an expression that you will often hear. If you are at a table, on a terrace, for example, even strangers passing by will wish you "bon appétit". So much so that some people, in order to avoid having to interrupt themselves fifteen times before they have been able to swallow their first mouthful, tap the table three times to say "thank you"
You vibrate to the sound of the salsa. Salsa is an institution. And even though reggaeton has been gaining ground in the national music scene in recent years, salsa is still the safe bet. It can be heard everywhere, in buses, cabs, bars, public places...
You like the "playa". Puerto Rico offers superb beaches, and even a few hundred! Puerto Ricans are far from being the last to enjoy them. On Sundays and long weekends, picnicking at the beach is often the main activity
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